Inside seedy ‘massage parlour’

FANS of dingy lighting, showers in bedrooms and all-red decor are being urged to snap up a bizarre property in Sydney as a business investment.

Real estate agents trying to entice "savvy investors" with seedy-looking pictures from inside the house in Rockdale, say the building is currently operating as a "massage parlour" with a tidy profit margin.

In its current guise, the 267sq m building, which has four bedrooms, two bathrooms and is zoned as light industrial, rakes in more than $62,400 a year.

The massage parlour, known as East Illusions, has a 2.3-star rating on Google reviews, based on feedback from three customers. Picture: Auction Agency

However, if you're interested, you will have to fork out seven figures as it is currently listed at just under $1.3 million.

"Great opportunity for savvy investors or developers to unlock the full potential and reap the rewards," the listing reads.

It describes the property as a "high yield investment" and goes on to add that zoning "will suit many uses subject to council approval".

As well as the business potential, agents list many other benefits of the site. It is "within walking distance to Bunnings, Repco, NRMA, Reece Plumbing and Fitness First", while being "only minutes to Rockdale Plaza and Brighton Le Sands".

The parlour currently makes around $62,400 a year. Picture: Auction Agency

"The site is located within 20 minutes from the city of Sydney, 10 minutes from the domestic and international airports, and has easy access to the M5 East motorway," the advert reads.

The massage parlour, known as East Illusions, has a 2.3-star rating on Google reviews, based on feedback from three customers.

Sex work has been decriminalised in NSW since 1995 and in 2016 the state government. announced that it continues "to support decriminalisation of sex work as the best way of protecting sex workers and maintaining a more transparent sex work industry".

The advert comes as one of the most popular websites for Australian sex workers, Backpage, was seized by the FBI and shut down, leaving sex workers in limbo.

Jules Kim, the chief executive of peak sex workers organisations, the Scarlet Alliance told news.com.au that the closure of websites may push sex workers into using other means, like apps, to contact clients.

While sex work is legal across most of Australia, regulations vary wildly.

However, if sex workers, in Queensland for example, are asked to describe what services they provide or if they send naked shots, that could land them on the wrong side of the law.

"Often police will contact sex workers and ask them for something they shouldn't, like a double, and if you say yes, that could breach the law.

"This shuts down the ability of sex workers to work legitimately and it compromises our choice and our safety."